The Fact Behind Apex Legends’ Revenant Rework

Apex Legends, like all live-service titles, isn’t any stranger to balancing updates. Weapons and playable characters alike endure acute surges and declines primarily based on a number of elements, with probably the most prevalent being participant habits. Years in the past, Pathfinder reigned supreme throughout informal and aggressive matches; his grapple hook-centric mobility and inconsistent hitbox made him an unequalled duelist till his skill cooldowns and physique had been tweaked. Equally, the Prowler SMG as soon as rivaled its mild ammo counterparts earlier than the Selectfire Receiver – a legendary hop-up that transformed the weapon’s burstfire to computerized – was faraway from the loot pool. These adjustments, along with many others, morphed the meta in vital methods, however one specific replace trumped the remaining: Revenant’s rework.

The nefarious simulacrum (robots primarily based on people) was first launched in Season 4: Assimilation, and regardless of capturing the fascination of lore fanatics and aggression-focused gamers, his unremarkable choose charge left loads to be desired. Revenant’s unique equipment made him a stealthy murderer: a “Stalker” passive that accelerated crouch stroll velocity/prolonged climbing peak all whereas silencing his toes, a “Silence” tactical skill that, when flung at unsuspecting adversaries, dealt harm and disabled enemies for a couple of seconds, and a “Dying Totem” final which prevented dying or incapacitation by sending injured customers again to the Totem’s location with 50HP as an alternative. Regardless of these attention-grabbing abilities, Revenant by no means reached the identical recognition heights as different Skirmisher legends.

Apex Legends Season 18 Trailer:

Apex Legends design director Devan McGuire instructed me Revenant’s second coming (or “Rebirth,” as some name it) that launched within the aptly named Season 18: Resurrection was carried out to fulfill the core fantasy of the character and carve an area within the meta for him. Merely put, he wanted stronger, extra viable skills.

“You performed Revenant, sat again, and lobbed shadow balls [or Silence] at individuals and hoped you hit somebody across the nook to possibly make a push on them,” McGuire started. “However even when you did, you had no concept what kind of individual received affected by it, what the Silence did, and whether or not or not it was nonetheless protected to push. And when you needed to make use of your final, you needed to coordinate along with your workforce and ensure everybody grouped as much as make an efficient push. It wasn’t the healthiest factor for the sport; we had an Octane-Revenant meta that confirmed us the risks of that. So, we checked out it from the bottom up and went after a hyper-aggressive/very egocentric playstyle and tried to make Revenant match the sport in the way in which he was meant to. Having that payoff is so rewarding/encouraging after we look again at older legends who’ve fallen behind or possibly by no means hit the mark. Not saying that we will be doing a number of that sooner or later, however we’ll search for these sorts of alternatives once more as a result of they will breathe new life into a personality who has sat by the wayside.”

Based on Esports Illustrated, after the rework, Revenant grew to become probably the most chosen legend within the sport, his choose charge rising by a whopping 98 p.c! In fact, the enjoyable narrative beats that accompanied S18 helped the character attraction to a broader viewers. However his new skills had been nothing to scoff at both. Today, the Revenant we all know and love can “Shadow Pounce,” or leap a most of 50m, to ambush low-health enemies highlighted with the “Murderer’s Intuition” passive. And his new final, “Solid Shadows,” creates a 75HP shroud that blocks harm and slowly regenerates over time. Fortunately (or dreadfully?), Revenant resides as much as his namesake; the man’s a bonafide predator who can provoke and win fights in addition to any legend within the frontier.